Independent Living Program

About the Independent Living Program The Florida Department of , Division of Vocational Rehabilitation’s (VR) Independent Living Program promotes and supports a philosophy of independent living for persons with significant who wish to maintain or increase their level of independence. This state/federal partnership funds 16 Centers for Independent Living (CIL) throughout Florida. An essential part of the Independent Living Program is the State Independent Living Council (SILC). In Florida, SILC is operated by the Florida Independent Living Council. Centers for Independent Living A CIL is a local not-for-profit that is consumer-controlled and provides a minimum of five core services that support independent living outcomes for persons with disabilities. Each CIL offers additional independent living services as determined by the needs of the community and the individuals seeking assistance. CILs provide services to maximize the leadership, empowerment, independence and productivity of individuals with disabilities. The overall goal of services provided by CILs is to achieve the integration and full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into mainstream American society. Five Core Services Provided by Florida Centers for Independent Living 1. Information and referral 2. Independent living-skills training 3. Individual and systems advocacy 4. Peer counseling 5. Transition from a to the community or diversion of individuals from institutional placement; and assisting youth (14-24 years old) with post-secondary life and opportunities. Contact Independent Living Program ) 6 www8 + 850-245-3492 850-245-3394 ILProgram@ www.RehabWorks.org/ Florida Department of Education vr.fldoe.org indep_living.shtml Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Florida Independent Living Program 325 W. Gaines St., Suite 1144 Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400 Centers for Independent Living in Florida

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5 6 Name City Website 1 CIL of Northwest Florida Pensacola www.cilnwf.org 2 Resource Center Panama City www.drcpc.org 3 Ability 1st Tallahassee www.ability1st.info 4 CIL Jacksonville Jacksonville www.CILJacksonville.org 5 CIL of North Central Florida Gainesville www.cilncf.org 6 disAbility Solutions for Daytona www.dsil.org 9 7 8 Independent Living 10 7 CIL of Central Florida Orlando www.cilorlando.org 8 Resource Center for Rockledge www.rcdsfl.org 11 Disability Solutions 9 Disability Achievement Center Largo www.mydacil.org 15 10 Self-Reliance Tampa www.self-reliance.org 11 SunCoast CIL Sarasota www.site.scil4u.org 12 12 Gulf Coast-Administered by Fort Myers www.cilgulfcoastflorida.org CIL of Broward 16 13 CIL of South Florida Miami www.cilsf.org 14 CIL of the Keys Key Largo, www.facebook.com/Center-for- Independent-Living-of-the-Keys-13136977789 13 15 Coalition for Independent West Palm Beach www.cilo.org Living Options

16 CIL of Broward Ft. Lauderdale www.cilbroward.org 14

The Florida Independent Living Council The Florida Independent Living Council (FILC) has the responsibility of developing the State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL) to further guide and support independent living services for Floridians with the most-significant disabilities. Council members are appointed by the governor to ensure the independent living needs of persons with disabilities are represented through the SPIL statewide. The SPIL requires that the FILC gather input from across Florida on the independent needs of persons with disabilities. Independent Living Services that support individuals’ achieving goals in education, employment, affordable housing or transition from nursing homes to the community are addressed by the SPIL. Council members evaluate the existing SPIL on an on-gong basis. The SPIL provides direction to the Council and CILs on initiating outreach to identify and reach underserved populations so that they can benefit from independent living services. Both CILs and the FILC were created by federal and state legislation to support individuals with disabilities in maintaining or increasing their ability to live independently. Contact Independent Living Council ) 6 www8 850-488-5624 850-488-5881 [email protected] www.FloridaSILC.org The Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) is an employer. It is against the law for VR as a recipient of Federal financial assistance to discriminate against any individual in the United States on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief. The application process used by VR to determine eligibility for services, any subsequent services and the entire VR process are subject to these non- requirements. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. VR program receives 78.7 percent of its funding through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. For the 2020 Federal fiscal year, the total amount of grant funds awarded were $153,000,001. The remaining 21.3 percent of the costs ($41,409,148) were funded by Florida State Appropriations. Revised October 2020.